NEXT WAVE SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT

Eco-conscious and ethical decision-making sits at the heart of Next Wave’s values.

In taking responsibility for the environmental impact of our work, we continually aim to operate responsively; consistently striving to learn more, adapt and implement actions in a way that influences and empowers our community, minimises the impact caused by our operations, and sets an example of effective environmental management within the industry.

As an artist learning and development organisation, Next Wave recognises that we are in a unique position to lead by example and assist the next generation of Australian artists to consider the environmental impact of their practice.

Committed to eco-accountability, Next Wave also encourages our partner venues, sponsors, suppliers and audiences to consider their responsibility and ability to make environmentally conscious choices during the delivery of all Next Wave produced events.

ACHIEVEMENTS & INROADS

Building on learning gained from taking part in the inaugural 2014 Greenie-in-Residence program, in early 2015 Next Wave devised and implemented its first organisational Sustainability Action Plan which covered office and delivery operations leading in to the 2016 Next Wave Festival (NWF16).

Since then, Next Wave has offset 99 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions related to our operations, festival and project delivery, through the purchase of avoided deforestation carbon credits from Treecreds.

In addition, from June to December 2016 Next Wave transitioned our finance and accounting processes out of a paper-heavy model, implementing a paper-free digital system that has resulted in a significant decrease in paper usage and waste.

These organisational achievements support other major NWF16 sustainability initiatives, including:

73% of audiences used environmentally-friendly transport to get to their event, an outcome supported by the successful pilot of Next Wave’s Green Tickets Initiative, which offered 25% off tickets to audience members who used sustainable transport to attend Festival events.

Further information on the initiatives Next Wave will implement for the 2018 Next Wave Festival will be available in March 2018.

RESOURCES

If you’re an artist or organisation wanting to learn more about sustainability and how to approach your artistic activity from a greener perspective, we invite you to check out the following organisations and resources:

An environmental organisation that advocates for and promotes avoided deforestation and associated projects around the world. They currently offset Next Wave’s office & travel activity, and their site includes a great easy-to-use carbon calculator.